Harnessing carbon financing to boost sustainable farming

Some 100 experts from five continents have met to chart the way to harnessing a large new flow of funding – carbon finance – to agricultural development and to improving the lives of poor farmers the world over. Billions of dollars are available every year under the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism to finance initiatives helping reduce the amount of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions into the atmosphere.

But so far little of this money has been going to agriculture, although it offers very real potential to reduce GHG pollution since it is a leading source of emissions – contributing some 30 percent at global level when land-use changes and the intensive livestock sector are included.

The meeting, taking place from 28-30 October in West Lafayette, Indiana, will discuss how agriculture can tap into a market worth an estimated €12 billion in 2007. That market has developed under the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), whereby industries in industrialized countries can fulfil their obligations to reduce their GHG emissions by investing in emission-saving projects overseas.

Slow change, help poor farmers

“This is a win-win-win opportunity,” says FAO Senior Officer Theodor Friedrich, an expert in sustainable production intensification (SPI). “We have a chance to slow climate change, help poor farmers make a better living and improve soil health and productivity all at the same time.”

But in order to qualify for CDM financing, farm projects would need to produce scientifically measurable evidence of how much they can reduce GHG emissions as compared with traditional farming. Ways would also need to be found to reliably monitor those results and establish prices paid for carbon sequestration that are attractive to small farmers.

These are some of the issues to be debated at the meeting, jointly organized by FAO and the Conservation Technology Information Centre, with the support of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

When land is tilled and ploughed in traditional farming systems, the CO2 stored there is released into the atmosphere, contributing to GHG buildup and hence climate change. But SPI systems such as no-till Conservation Agriculture (CA), in which seeds are drilled directly into the ground through the vegetation cover, are much more climate-friendly.

No-tillage

CA can in fact remove significant quantities of CO2 from the atmosphere and store it in the soil. Says Friedrich, “In theory, application of no-tillage farming methods to all of the world’s 5 billion ha of agricultural land could allow up to three billion tonnes of atmospheric carbon to be sequestered every year for 30 years.

“This is roughly the annual rate at which human-induced CO2 is currently increasing.”

Soil that is rich in carbon is healthier and better at storing water, which it means it does a better job of coping with the higher temperatures and less reliable rainfall expected as a result of climate change. Such soil is also more productive.

“Using CDM funding to promote CA and other SPI systems in developing countries could give a significant boost to development,” Friedrich added. “It would also increase world food security and do much to help the global community as a whole, and vulnerable populations in particular, overcome the threats of climate change.”

Related news

Straw from previous harvests can be used to help increase crop yields and improve the efficiency of water use in arid regions, finds a new study from China. By testing different techniques to improve water efficiency, the researchers found that the most effective method involved using straw to cover the soil when growing maize and wheat together in the same growing season.
In north-western China, small-scale self-sufficient farms are important producers of maize and wheat crops. The two crops are typically...

We are proud to announce that the first fully forged plough points have been produced on our Beche hammer whilst the impressive hammer itself and associated equipment and systems have been fully tested and certified. We are now undertaking operator training and structural tests on components in advance of commencing full scale production. As a further exciting development we will be launching forged plough shares in time for the spring 2016 season.
In order to increase capacity for forging tool manufacture we...

The Unlimited Studio at the Valtra factory in Suolahti, Finland, has delivered its 1000th specially tailored tractor to the customer. The Unlimited Studio has been operating since 2013 with the aim of fulfilling all the wishes that customers may have for their new tractors so long as they are feasible.
“There has been great demand for this service, even more than we anticipated, so our operations have expanded rapidly. In 2013 we delivered 145 Unlimited tractors, mainly to Finnish customers. In 2014 we...

A couple of years ago the Finnish Defence Forces ordered 106 Valtra N163 Direct tractors for logistic tasks. While the last of these military tractors are still being delivered, the Defence Forces have already ordered more tractors from Valtra, including ten for the Army’s engineers. The customer has clearly been impressed by the versatility and ease-of-use of the tractors.
The tractors used by the Finnish Defence Forces are an integral part of the logistics chain. The army’s tactics were updated a...

The first stage of this year’s Neste Oil Rally in Finland saw a special zero car when four-time rally world champion Tommi Mäkinen opened the Harju Special Stage in Jyväskylä with a Valtra tractor.
In rallying, zero cars open the track for the competition cars. Their purpose is to alert the public that the race is about to begin and to check the security of the track.
Mäkinen crossed the finish line at 3:45.2, around 117 seconds slower than the winner of the stage, current rally world...

Customer comments

No comments were found for Harnessing carbon financing to boost sustainable farming. Be the first to comment!